Man denied bail in stolen artifacts case

The man at the centre ofahuge artifacts case, which involvesthousands of allegedly stolen items, has been denied bail.

John Mark Tillman was in a Dartmouth courtroom on Thursday and learned he'll have to stay in jail at least until his trial.

In the meantime, RCMP are trying to find owners for items theyseized from Tillman's Fall River home. Inside the home, police recovered thousands of items, including missing artifacts from museums and libraries.

Halifax RCMP have renewed a call to anyone that may have had items taken from them in the last few decades. There are about 3,000 artifacts in total, the origin of many have yet to be identified.

Tillman is facing 40 charges so far, but Crown Prosecutor Mark Heerema said the investigation is far from over.

"Based on the discussions we've had with the investigators it would appear likely that additional charges will be laid in the future," he said.